The distance from Balmain to Kings Cross might not seem that far, but in the conservative atmosphere of the early 1960s it was a massive leap, especially when you were a young boy determined to live your life as a woman.

All the turmoil and triumphs of that transformation lent plenty of drama to the ABC telemovie Carlotta.

Carol Spencer, as Carlotta is known when not performing, hand-picked actress Jessica Marais to portray her, a decision that upset some.

"I've copped a little bit of flak from certain people," she says. (listen to attached audio)

There were those who asked why she chose a girl rather than a male drag queen for the role.

"She does look a bit like me when I was young," Carlotta explains.

"I'm just so thrilled, she pulled it off brilliantly, even lowered the voice like I told her to!"

But not all of the show was enjoyable viewing for her.

"I watched bits and pieces because some pieces I don't want to relive, too much pain there," she says.

Her childhood in working-class Balmain was particularly tough, bullied at school, with a cruel stepfather and a mother who didn't understand her confused and very feminine son.

A dancer herself when she was younger, Richard's mother taught him song-and-dance routines.

But when he moved to Kings Cross and began living as a woman named Carol, she struggled to accept her son's transformation.

Even when Carlotta became the star of the hit Les Girls cabaret show, her mother only came to see her perform once.

But Carol says she often hears that her mother would praise her to other people.

She's come to realise that her mother's attitude was a reflection of how Australia was back then.

"Years later I understood better how my mother felt, I think it was an embarrassment for her," she says.

Carlotta has been encouraged by the changing attitudes to gay and transgender people in this country.

"I think it's wonderful, because a lot of countries in the world don't even have this freedom," she says.

"Today they don't have to go into showbusiness, they can go and get ordinary jobs."

Les Girls, inspired by all-male revues in Paris, began in Kings Cross in 1963 and soon became the most glamorous show in Sydney.

Carlotta remembers international stars such as Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, Shirley Bassey, Sammy Davis Junior and Peter Allen coming to see her perform.

With her feminine features and womanly body, many in the audience found it difficult to believe the star of Les Girls had been born male.

And she was determined to become a woman completely, although she saw friends struggle with the decision and some even attempt suicide.

In the early 70s Carlotta became the first publicly-named person to undergo a sex-change operation in Australia.

But not before doctors attempted to "cure" her by attaching electrical wires to her while she was forced to look at "dirty" photos.

She recalls that she "bucked the system" and ripped the wires off.

The scene in the telemovie where she throws her high heels at the official panel who were assessing her suitability for a sex change is exactly as it happened, Carlotta says.

Despite her feisty reputation and quick wit that always made short work of hecklers, Carlotta's voice becomes very quiet when she says that wasn't her nature and it was the industry that made her strong.

During the early days of Les Girls the performers rehearsed up to five days a week and launched a new show every six weeks.

They became like a substitute family for one another.

"It was like a crutch, it was like a security blanket for a long time," Carlotta recalls.

"That's probably why we let them get away with so much.

"They made a lot of money out of us, they became rich, we didn't."

In fact her lack of business savvy is the entertainer's only regret.

"I don't have any regrets darling, I only have one regret, I wish I'd have been a better businesswoman."

Carlotta says she's wanted to share the story of her life for a long time, and now that she's 70 thought the time was right.

"I wanted to put it out there to help anyone that was in the same position as me," she says.

Carlotta is now based on the Gold Coast and still performs her one-woman show.

The ABC telemovie, Carlotta, is now available on DVD. You can hear Jeannette McMahon's full interview with Carlotta on 1233 ABC Newcastle by clicking on the audio bar.